The Love I Hid from You

When Joy woke up, she was already lying on a hospital bed.

Leon was sitting beside the bed, working on his laptop. As if sensing something, he looked up at Joy.

Their eyes met, and Leon subtly breathed a sigh of relief, but his tone remained as icy as ever. "Does it feel good to be bullied? Remember this lesson and don't give Charmaine trouble ever again."

Joy silently turned her head away, a tear quietly sliding down from the corner of her eye.

In the past, she had viewed Leon as her savior. However, how was his behavior now any different from that of her bullies?

Leon looked at the silent girl on the hospital bed and felt uneasy for some reason. He thought, 'She acted out of jealousy and harmed Charmaine. She deserves to be in this state. However, why do I feel heartbroken when I see her crying?'

Just then, a young nurse pushed the door open. "Mr. Scott, the air conditioning in Ms. Quinn's ward broke down..."

Leon frowned. "If it's broken, just fix it. Do you need to inform me of such a trivial matter?"

"We've already reported it for repair, but the repairman will only arrive in an hour. Ms. Quinn keeps saying she's cold, and the hospital has no extra wards for her..."

Hearing this, Leon immediately stood up. "Is this how the hospital handles things? Does it take this long to fix an air conditioner? Charmaine has always had poor health and can't handle the cold. Have Joy go over there and switch Charmaine to this ward." He frowned deeply.

"Well..." The young nurse looked at Joy on the bed, somewhat hesitantly.

Joy was allergic to chili peppers and was fed so much chili pepper water. She survived, but her esophagus and gastric mucosa were severely injured. Any slight mishap would put her in danger again.

Charmaine just had some nuts. Getting some allergy shots would make her better. However, the suffering Joy endured seemed to be insignificant to Leon.

Leon asked, "Why are you still standing there? If Charmaine freezes, this hospital can forget about continuing operations!"

Now that Leon had said that, the young nurse could only obey.

Soon, Joy was transferred to Charmaine's ward.

Leon went to accompany Charmaine, leaving Joy lying alone in a daze in the huge ward.

Recalling everything she had experienced during this period, she could no longer suppress her emotions and broke out in tears. A chill came over her as she cried. Looking toward the chill, Joy suddenly discovered that the air conditioner was on and was blowing out cold air!

She instantly understood everything.

Charmaine deliberately said that the air conditioner broke down just to switch her over so that she could suffer in the cold and so that Charmaine could vent her anger.

As the temperature in the ward lowered, Joy felt the cold seeping into her bones. Even her teeth were trembling.

She tried to call for help, but her throat was so swollen that she could not make a sound.

She reached for the call bell, but her arm was weak and fell back down after a few seconds. Joy lost all hope and could only curl up, trying to hold on to the last bit of warmth.

After an unknown amount of time, someone finally found her, who was forgotten in despair.

When Joy tried to open her eyes, she saw Charmaine's gloating face.

"Joy, look at you. What's the difference between you and a stray dog?

"Leon made you suffer just to help me get justice. Now, everyone has photos of you being abused. They're all making fun of you.

"By the way, a pornography company just contacted me and asked if you would like to be the heroine of their next film. Hahaha..."

Charmaine laughed as she spoke. When she stopped laughing, she suddenly grabbed the most severely ulcerated part of Joy’s arm and pinched it hard.

Blood gushed out and Joy felt her vision go black.

"So, do you finally understand who he loves? If you know what's good for you, admit that your mother is a homewrecker and disappear from my sight. Spare me from feeling nauseous every time I see your face!"

The light in Joy's eyes faded, replaced by endless silence.

Disappear?

She would.

Soon, she would go to a foreign country and never look back.